Deductions would unleash charitable giving

Deductions would unleash charitable giving: "Deductions would unleash charitable giving
Thursday, March 31, 2005
IN MY OPINION Greg Chaille
P resident Bush recently decided to withdraw his longstanding support for a new charitable tax deduction. It would have allowed 66 percent of taxpayers nationally -- the percentage who do not itemize their deductions -- to claim this benefit. In Oregon, the deduction would benefit two-thirds of taxpayers.
History shows that enacting this deduction would almost certainly increase charitable giving by 5 percent to 10 percent, if not more. During the 1980s, federal tax law allowed all taxpayers to deduct their charitable contributions. According to the Independent Sector, a national nonprofit resource center, non-itemizers contributed $9.5 billion to charity in 1985, when they were permitted to deduct 50 percent of their contributions. In 1986, when allowed to deduct 100 percent of their contributions, giving increased by nearly 40 percent, to $13.4 billion. "